So much back and forth in this thread about how EVs are or aren’t really better for the environment but nobody has mentioned the following:
- Weight. EVs are considerably heavier than equivalent ICE vehicles of the same dimensions. This results in more shedding of toxic tire particles into the air than with ICE vehicles.
- As above, the added weight means that crashes resulting in serious injury or death, all things being equal, are likely to increase by a non-trivial amount including from crashes with other vehicles, cyclists, and pedestrians. There are over 40,000 automobile-related deaths in the US every year which is approximately the same number of deaths caused by guns. The move to EVs, coupled with the fact that it seems almost EVERYONE drives something akin to a German war tank these days to commute to their office jobs, will almost certainly cause that number to go up even further in the coming years.
- The only sustainable solution for people who are actually concerned about climate change and protecting the planet is not to REPLACE gas powered vehicles with electric ones, but rather to REMOVE cars from the road by building cities and places in ways that make car ownership and car usage less of a necessity. More rapid transit, more high speed rail, more density, less sprawl, local zoning reform, etc. This is the only sustainable future no matter what the EV zealots will have you believe.